AIDS in Belize

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ch 5

Faith based initiative seeks to combat AIDS
When you think about those institutions in society that are leading the fight against HIV and AIDS, the church is not likely to be the first one to come to mind. But things are not always what they seem, as News Five's Kendra Griffith discovered this morning.

Canon Leroy Flowers, Pres., Belize Council of Churches
“I am amazed that people talk about the church not being there. Who are the ones who sit at people’s bedside, who are the ones who comfort family members when they have lost a loved one. When all the hype and they have left and their services are no longer there, who are the ones? It has been pastors and church members.”

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
And today the religious community launched its latest effort in the fight against HIV entitled “The Faith Based Manual for the Response to HIV and AIDS.”

Rt. Rev. Phillip Wright, Bishop of Belize
“The manual is hopefully will give churches an opportunity to improve and better minister to those infected and affected with HIV and AIDS, so that there is somewhat of a consistency. And also I believe the manual will help us to move forward together in terms of our contribution to the fight against this dreaded disease.”

The manual is the result of a year and half of meetings and workshops between the different denominations that comprise the Council of Churches. It includes basic information about the virus and offers tips on how to counsel and handle infected persons and their families.

Rt. Rev Phillip Wright
“It’s for pastors and it’s for other members of the church, who are perhaps directly involved in the care and ministry to the sick and those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.”

And the move could not have come at a better time, as statistics continue to cause concern.

Rt. Rev Phillip Wright
“Recently it was noted that Belize has the highest prevalence in Central America and is ranked fifth in the Caribbean I believe in terms of rate of infections. Globally of the forty or so million people living with HIV/AIDS, more than twenty-five percent I believe are between the fifteen and twenty four. This age group represents approximately one-third of the Belizean population. We can therefore my friends appreciate the impact HIV/AIDS is already having on our country as it is.”

UNICEF Representative in Belize, Rana Flowers, is banking on the church’s influence and large following to reduce that impact, especially in the areas of infection rates, stigma and discrimination.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Rep in Belize
“The answer to halting HIV lies in this room; it lies with the churches. It lies with the voice of the churches being raised powerfully, strategically, honestly and in ensuring that from the smallest of their congregation to the oldest. We are not only giving them the information to prevent the spread of HIV, but we are giving them the information that makes them care for those people in their community who are affected by HIV. And with the grace of God we will exceed expectations and not just to be a significant player, but I believe THE significant player that contributes, that makes THE difference in this fight against HIV.”

It’s a challenge that the Council of Churches is willing to take on ... starting with a change in attitude on some touchy subjects.

Canon Leroy Flowers
“The church has got to recognise that young people are sexually active. Now how do we bring that across in terms of a theological response in terms of maintaining the human dignity. That is a challenge to us, but I am happy to say that we have made great strides as a council and as a faith-based community to trying to put our differences aside to address the needs of young people because at the end of that day that is why we are called to serve. This is a disease, this is not a punishment from God as was originally put forward in the Christian community, but is a common understanding that it is affecting—as the main speaker said this morning, this disease has no respect of gender, race, creed or religion. It is like every other disease and if we begin to approach it from that angle they will then stop being so judgemental.”

The Belize Council of Churches has established an umbrella organisation, COMFORTH, the Community for a Faith-based Response to HIV/AIDS, which will be responsible for carrying out the church’s projects. At today’s launch a signing took place in which UNICEF agreed to provide funding for the HIV-related activities of the Council of Churches.
 
Ch 5:

Anglicans take active stance on AIDS education

On the heels of last month's initiative by the Belize Council of Churches, one its members--the Anglicans--have made their own commitment to fighting the AIDS epidemic. News Five's Kendra Griffith has the story.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
Armed with funding from the Episcopal Relief and Development office in the United States, today the Anglican Diocese officially launched its HIV/AIDS Education Project.

Carol Babb, General Manager, Anglican Schools
“HIV and AIDS is a terrible disease and it has affected our country, especially our young people. And as a church, we feel that we need to play a role too in the helping of prevention of this dreadful disease.”

The diocese plans to educate staff, teachers, students, and parents on how to reduce their risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and preventing stigma and discrimination.

Carol Babb
“Right now we are training the teachers. Then after that we will go into the schools to see how well they are implementing the knowledge and strategies that they have learnt. And if we need to do any revisiting of any training then we’ll do that.”

Kendra Griffith
“This will be done as a separate subject, or will it be integrated into a subject already in the class?”

Carol Babb
“It will be integrated with the social studies, science, and even in the other subject areas like language arts.”

Kendra Griffith
“But how will the church deal with the sticky subject of condom use?”

Carol Babb
“We have to mention the use of condoms, but definitely we are going to promote abstinence.”

The training will be conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, through its Health and Family Life Education Unit.

Sherlene Neal Tablada, HFLE Officer, Min. of Education
“Teachers will then be provided with a tool kit for implementation of HIV/AIDS education, which will have basic things like information, sample lesson plans, teaching/learning materials, such as posters flip charts and relevant publications. So they will be given information that they can use in the classroom. The project is not occurring in isolation. This is a part of health and family life and it falls under the sexuality and sexual health component of the curriculum, where HIV/AIDS is a component. So it’s not like we just picked out some things out of the air. It’s already there in the curriculum, and so this is just to support that component of the curriculum.”

Combined with the overall efforts of the Belize Council of Churches, this latest initiative has those involved in combating HIV optimistic about the future.

Jose Coye, Minister of Health
“I commend you very much, and I wish you the success. I believe you are on the right track. We will overcome, we can conquer it. It is in this kind of forum that we will build the militia and build the army in the fight against AIDS.”

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Chair, National AIDS Commission
“The church has an extremely important role to play. We are not expecting that every single church denomination might embrace every single means of prevention or every kind of intervention. But when we work together, if you stress what the left hand can do, I can stress what the right hand can do; ultimately when we put it all together, we see that we have a very encouraging picture.”

Carol Babb
“We hope that at the end of this training, and working with the students and providing them with the materials, that definitely we will help to decrease the incidences of HIV and AIDS.”

The pilot phase of the project is expected to last nine months and includes one secondary and six primary schools, one hundred and forty-two teachers, twenty-nine hundred students, and eighteen hundred parents.

Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.

The schools involved in the pilot phase are All Saints, Queen's Square, and Anglican Cathedral College in Belize City; St. Peter's in Orange Walk; St. Andrew's in Cayo; St. John's Memorial in Placencia; Dangriga's Christ the King; and from the Belize River Valley, St. Thomas Primary.
 
I NEVER CAUGHT ANY STD'S IN MY LIFE

cookiegirl said:
I agree with you EM, the type of mentality that exists in this country and the absence of consideration and sense make it easy for people to be getting this disease.

Nowadays, you don't even know who is carrying this disease, and noone, i notice, seem to care to take care of themselves. Everybody wants the next score and they fail to see at what costs. Responsiblity for something like this falls on one self.
Click to expand...

CookieGirl!!!! I will come prepared.:beerchug
 
I hope Belize gets some of this Gates money!

Gates Foundation donates $500M for AIDS


The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation took its support of AIDS-related research and care to a new level Wednesday, announcing a half-billion-dollar grant to a global fund that provides AIDS assistance in poor countries.



The Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will receive the grant over five years.

The gift dwarfs the $150 million the Microsoft Corp. founder's foundation has given since the fund was created four years ago, and the additional $287 million Gates announced last month to speed development of an AIDS vaccine.

"The Global Fund is one of the most important health initiatives in the world today," Bill Gates said in a statement announcing the gift. "The Fund has an excellent track record, and we need to do everything we can to support its continued success, which will save millions of lives."

The announcement comes as nearly 25,000 scientists, advocates and policy-makers prepare to meet in Toronto this weekend for the International AIDS Conference.
 
Ch 5:

AIDS conference calls for action, not words

The event has been pushed off the international headlines by a war in Lebanon and terror plot in Britain. But the problems currently under discussion by over twenty-five thousand participants in Canada this week may in the long run prove more crucial to our survival. The issue is AIDS and News Five's Kendra Griffith reports from Toronto.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
According to the 2006 UNAIDS report, there are thirty-eight point six million people infected globally, four point one million new infections in 2005, and two point eight million dead in the last year alone ... It is these numbers that have brought people from all over the world to Toronto, Canada for the sixteenth International AIDS Conference.

Dr. Helene Gayle, Co-Chair, AIDS 2006
“Today, twenty-five years into this epidemic, we have a real opportunity to deliver like never before. We have more resources, more knowledge, more political commitments than ever before, but still the epidemic continues to out-pace us. So it is time for us to assure that promises made are promises kept. We must demand action over rhetoric and evidence over ideology. It is “Time to Deliver.”

Kendra Griffith
“AIDS 2006 features scientists, activists, world leaders, infected and affected persons exchanging ideas and opinions on HIV treatment and prevention ... knowledge that organisers want participants to take home, and put into practice.”

For Belizeans attending AIDS 2006, the conference offers an opportunity to strengthen programmes already in existence.

Rodel Beltran, Belizean Delegate
“I think we have delivered. The Alliance against AIDS is comfortable in saying that that deliverable has been Anti-retroviral medication, and we are comfortable with that.”

Ruth Jaramillo, Belizean Delegate
“Perhaps the strongest gain that we have gotten so far is the opportunity to network with other countries to get insight on what lessons they have learnt in their response, and how we can assist each other.”

And with fourteen thousand new HIV infections being reported daily, working together is more important than ever.

Reporting from the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, I am Kendra Griffith for News Five.

Kendra's attendance at the Toronto conference was made possible through the support of the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
 
Ch 5:
Donation will heighten AIDS awareness in region

She has been in Canada for a week, first attending a seminar for Caribbean journalists and over the last three days reporting from the International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Tonight News Five's Kendra Griffith offers some details on one very tangible result for the region coming out of the conference.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
The challenge has been made:

Bill Roedy, Sr. V.P., MTV Networks Intl.
“Media have such a huge role to play in this fight ,and as a member of the media industry, I can fully admit that we are not doing enough.”

... And accepted

Allyson Leacock, Chair, Executive Cmtee., C.B.M.P.
“AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adults in the Caribbean between the ages of fifteen and forty-four. That has a potential to decimate not just our people but our economies as small island states. The creation of the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS is a new effort; I believe, among media professionals and broadcasters in the region, in particular to use our communication platforms to cover and to advance the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

To help in that effort, on Wednesday the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Elton John Foundation and the Ford Foundation donated one million U.S. dollars to the C.B.M.P.

Allyson Leacock
“This will give us the necessary resources to immediately begin production of our new programming materials, our awareness campaigns and our other initiatives that I just outlined to you. It is a historic collaboration between Caribbean broadcasters and major international partners. It is a major step forward.”

Matt James, Sr. V. P., Kaiser Family Foundation
“This is not just public service announcement that is going to show up at two in the morning when no one is watching. There certainly are public service announcements, but they will be targeted at the populations who are most at risk trying to reach them with the information that they need.”

Kendra Griffith
“That information is crucial to residents in the Caribbean where issues such as stigma, discrimination, homophobia, and lack of access to treatment are contributing to the spread of HIV. Reporting from the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, I'm Kendra Griffith for News Five.”

Prior to the funding of the C.B.M.P., Caribbean broadcasters were already donating thousands of hours of airtime for AIDS related P.S.A.s and programming.
 
BELIZE RED CROSS INTENSIFIES FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS
August 21, 2006

The Belize Red Cross Society is intensifying its fight against H-I-V/AIDS. The Society will introduce a social mobilization program called “Faces”. The program seeks to promote H-I-V and AIDS awareness through condom use. It is expected that the program will have similar effects as it has in Panama. Bearing the theme,” Nobody has the truth written on their faces – protect yourself and use a condom”, FACES is aimed at the sexually active population, particularly those between the ages of 14 and 46 years. Five H-I-V and AIDS awareness personalities have agreed to be spokespersons for the Belize Red Cross for this project. They are local entertainer, Super G, More F-M announcer, Edith Tesecum, Krem F-M D-J, Orson Picart, the newly crowned Miss Belize, Maria Jeffrey, and youth activist, Stephanie Young. These people have agreed to help raise the Red Cross profile in H-I-V and AIDS activism as well as convey the sense that this battle can be won with vigilance and a united focus. FACES will be introduced on August 30 at the Belize Institute of Management on Chancellor Street in Belize City.
 
I think the saddest thing is that people will shun their own family members who are infected. I know many years ago, when the disease was new, and there wasn't a lot of information about it, it was a justifiable response. My cousin in Bz. City had AIDS. When her mother passed away, she stood there all by herself grieving because no one wanted to be next to her since they all knew. I went over and hugged her and stood there with her. I could almost hear people gasping because I made such a bold move! I have never regretted doing that... and would do it again. I can see where it would be a terribly lonely world for people living with the disease. Like someone mentioned, not all people with AIDS got it thru sex. They need to know that they are not alone. Just my 2cents :peace
 
It is a shame, I have a cousin who is in the entertainment industry in Belize, a couple of years ago I tried to convince him to hold an AIDS benefit to bring more awareness, but he said Belizeans are too vicious and not understanding. He didn't want to start getting personally attacked.
 
People who didn't know me might have... but I didn't care. I was feeling her hurt and wouldn't have wanted people to treat me like that if that were me. My immediate family didn't have a problem with me doing it.... although none of them did it....lol
 
Ch 5:

National Policy on HIV officially launched

After years of country wide consultations, local officials have drafted Belize's first National Policy on HIV and AIDS. And as I found out today, that document will play a crucial role in curbing the spread of the deadly disease.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Following months of consultations Belize now has a National Policy on HIV and AIDS. The twenty four page document will provide the framework to work with persons infected and affected by the disease. Reports from 1986 through June 2005 indicate that three thousand one hundred and fifty four persons in Belize have acquired HIV and seven hundred and forty five have developed AIDS. In addition, five hundred and seventy six individuals have died. The good news is that over the past three years there has not been a steady increase in the rate of infections. The plateau is expected to remain for a couple of years before we start noticing a decline. At today’s launch, Acting Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. Paul Edwards says while the data represents a significant achievement in the fight by no means we have countered the disease and should become complacent especially when it comes to responsible behavioural change

Dr. Paul Edwards, Acting Deputy Director, Health Services
“That is really the crux of the matter. How do we incorporate what we know in relation to the prevention and transmission of HIV and AIDS into our sexual activity. That is the challenge we are faced with today. We do know the facts. It is unfortunate that sexual activity is done within the confines and privacy of two individuals and some of us are not there to remind and tap individuals on their shoulders in relation to their responsibility.”

The twenty four page document includes guidelines to remove barriers like stigma and discrimination that have affected the prevention, treatment, care and support of those living with HIV and AIDS.

Ruth Jaramillo, Technical Director, National AIDS Commission
“It continues to be a very big challenge, Jackie, especially in the area of accessing critical services. It is sad that persons living with HIV and AIDS do not come forward do not come forward to get the free medication that is already available in the country. It is also very disturbing that persons are not getting tested and getting to know their status even though they know that HIV is a problem in the country, we are not taking individual responsibility to get to know where we stand in terms of the epidemic, and that test is also offered free of cost.”

At today’s session, the National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS was also launched. That document outlines the response for the next five years with a support network for infected and affected persons, education initiatives and media campaigns.

Belize continues to hold the unwanted distinction of having the third highest rate of HIV infections in the Caribbean region and the highest in Central America. The National Policy on HIV and AIDS must now be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval before it can be signed into law.
 
Ch 7:

The Good & The Bad News About HIV/Aids in Belize


The National Aids Commission today launched its national policy and strategic plan for HIV and Aids for the next five years. The documents outline the battle plain to contain and curb the spread of HIV and Aids. It will be used by policy makers, medical professionals and field workers and at this morning's launching we found that it covers many areas, but stays true to one mission.

Alfonso Noble Reporting,
In launching its national policy on HIV and Aids and the national strategic plan for 2006 to 2011, the National Aids Commission first had to give a look at the situation of the pandemic as at March of this year.

Dr. Paul Edwards,
“When we talk about the leading causes of death in Belize, HIV/Aids is ranked among the five leading causes of death. We talk about chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease; definitely road traffic accidents is thrown in there. Last year HIV/Aids was ranked number five ,within the first five leading causes. However with some underreporting, we know it could very well be also the leading cause of death in this country.

When we look at the number of HIV/Aids infections, and this I say is part of what we call some of where our efforts, some of our minor achievements. We know from when the first case of Aids was diagnosed in 1986 we’ve seen a continuous increase and that is anticipated. Basically here those individuals when they became ill were diagnosed at that time. When we look at the years from 2000 until 2006, we note here that instead of going from 226 to 330, 431, and 560—we have started to plateau up. Having the information for the first two quarters of this year, approximately 200, then we will anticipate that we will have somewhere around four hundred to four hundred and fifty at the ending of the year 2006. So it is evident then from the information that we have that we are starting to plateau up. However let us not become complacent due to the fact that we are starting to plateau. It will take a couple years more for there to be a descent.”

Ambassador Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, NAC
“We are beginning to see the plateauing of the epidemic with about three to four hundred cases more every year and that is not going up to eight hundred and a thousand. But at the same time, three and four hundred cases a year is not good. It is still much much too much and we have to, from the plateau stage now, the time to deliver efforts will have to make sure that it goes down.”

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, the chairperson of the National Aids Commission says that it is in this process that the strategic plan and the national policy will come in.

Ambassador Dolores Balderamos-Garcia,
“The National Strategic Plan is a roadmap or a means of us setting out what we hope to accomplish in the next five years. And as a roadmap as such what it does is it sets out our major goal and then our objectives. The major goal is to prevent and control HIV in our country and the specific objectives are prevention, treatment, care, and support. So we have basically three major priorities under the National Strategic Plan: to harmonize our efforts better, which is coordination; to mitigate the impact of HIV, in other words we don’t want HIV making our people sicker and sicker and then more people dying; and our other objective is the prevention. If we do not step up the prevention efforts and the achievement of the prevention goals, we will always be having Aids growing. And with forty million people infected worldwide, we have definitely our work cut out for us.”

And while the work is monumental, Balderamos says that with the strategic plan and policy, the work would be focused and directed into achieving the ultimate goal of staving off the pandemic.

Ambassador Dolores Balderamos-Garcia,
“The policy gives us the framework of what we believe in and the National Strategic Plan gives us the roadmap. With the National Strategic Plan, the different sectors will be able to sit down using the Strategic Plan and say these are going to be our programs that we are going to put in place based on the document that we have come up with as an entire country.

Never before have we heard so much about Aids in this country and never before have so many sectors come together to really achieve what’s happening right now. We have over 90% of pregnant women getting tested. We have a lot of prevention efforts from different organizations for young people, for vulnerable groups. We have close to four hundred persons on medication and that is that many less deaths. So we have accomplished quite a bit but the reason why we are promulgating to the whole public a strategic plan for the next five years is because we have to step up the efforts and despite what we have accomplished, the fight is far from over.”

The national policy was approved by government in Eecember of 2005 and will now move into full implementation.
 
Ch 5:

Red Cross launches "Faces" HIV campaign

HIV infection knows no race, no ethnic group, no gender, no nationality, no age. That's the main thrust of a new campaign launched in Belize City today. News Five's Kendra Griffith reports.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
“You can’t judge a book by its cover” is the message that the Belize Red Cross is trying to relay to Belize’s youth in its efforts to combat new HIV infections.

Lily Bowman, Director General, Belize Red Cross
“Today I ask, look around you, beautiful faces sit next to you, behind you, in front of you, are they telling you anything that you need to know? No, they are just telling you, I am fine, I am okay, I am happy. Many young people with a very nonchalant outlook on sexual health do not realise that their lives can be affected by the past history of their current sexual partners. It is into this apathy that this multimedia campaign has sought to intervene in order to force recollection about the danger an extreme need for awareness and vigilance against the prevention of HIV/AIDS.”

“Faces” the campaign was officially launched this morning in Belize City.

Lily Bowman
“Four faces have been used to reflect the lifestyle choices of heterosexual, homosexuals, bisexual men and women. Its key impact is through massive signage in strategic locations such as billboards, bus stops or in smaller or equally strategic settings such as telephone cards and websites.”

In the next couple of days billboards in both English and Spanish will be posted in Belize City and San Pedro…but the project will be rolled out country wide.

Karen Diaz, President, Belize Red Cross
“I am positive that the message will be understood, accepted and spread to the exact population that is being targeted by this campaign.”

To help target those youths, Punta rock artist Supa G, former Queen of the Bay Stephanie Young and radio personalities Edith Tesecum and Orson Picart have been recruited as “Awareness Champions.” Their role will be to spread this message wherever they go:

Stephanie Young, Awareness Champion
“We in Belize are fighting back as never before against the spread of HIV and AIDS, having learnt on important lesson, HIV/AIDS eradication begins with each of us. Remember, nobody has the truth written on their face, so protect yourself and use a condom.”

But getting sexually active young people to use condoms is only one aspect of the campaign.

Lily Bowman
“Communication and social mobilisation as I mention is to reverse the negative influence of stigma and discrimination. There is a great need for that in Belize and all over the world.”

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Chair, National AIDS Commission
“We have close to four hundred people now on antiretroviral medication through the public health system alone in this country, that is something to shout about. But how many of those people would really step forward and say I am living with HIV. In this country we can count perhaps on one hand the persons who have stepped forward.”

One of those persons publicly living with HIV is Allen Garbutt, who says that stigma and discrimination has made his life hell.

Allen Garbutt, HIV Activist
“Over the years of being involved with HIV, in this work, I can tell you I’ve been viciously attacked on so many occasions, I have scars and marks to show. Been brutally stabbed, beaten up, been everything, you name about it, been through that and currently I am not employed. I simply get by, by doing testimonials like these and by handouts. I’ve been rejected by family members, I’ve been asked to stay away from the home, I’ve had doors slammed in my face and I’ve had people tell me, “It’s best you just keep going.”

Even with all the abuse, Garbutt says he is thankful for the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of others.

Allen Garbutt
“I don’t look at HIV as an impediment, I see it now as an opportunity too share and to try to avoid and to try to encourage persons not to get into this situation that I have been facing. I can say, man I’ve come a long way, over ten years being HIV positive and then look at me, can you really tell if I didn’t say.”

Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.

"Faces" is an initiative of the International Red Cross Federation and the Panama Red Cross and has already been launched in other Caribbean countries.
 
Ch 7:

The Faces of HIV and Aids


We've all heard the Aids awareness messages that seem to come at us from every direction but now the Red Cross is putting a new twist on this much-disseminated message. It's called "Faces" and the organization is seeking to increase awareness and condom use through what's called social mobilization. And what that really means is that there are trying to get the message to the most at-risk population, which is the young population, and to do that, they're using a clever and hip multimedia approach fashioned especially for a generation which hardly has time to pay attention.

Allen Garbutt,
“Its like over ten years being HIV positive and then look at me, can you really tell if I didn’t say it.”

If people’s faces could show risk of exposure to HIV and Aids this is what they would look like according to the Red cross’s new campaign which is called “faces.” It’s a program promoting HIV Aids awareness and increased condom use. Director General of the Belize Red Cross Lily Bowman says this will be achieved through social communication.

Lily Bowman, Director General of the Red Cross
“Many young people with a very nonchalant outlook on sexual health do not realize that their lives can be affected by the past history of their current sexual partners. It is into this apathy that this multimedia campaign has sought to intervene in order to force recollection about the danger and the extreme need for awareness and of vigilance against the prevention of HIV and Aids. This initiative of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Panama Red Cross, and the Ericcson Advertising Agency evolved out of the effort to wrestle with the common desire for judging of face value only.

Four faces have been used to reflect the lifestyle choices of heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexual men and women. Its key impact is through massive signage in strategic locations such as billboards, bus stops, or in smaller but equally strategic settings such as telephone cards, and websites. The campaign promotes consistent correct, condom use among young people. We are targeting obviously the sexually active young people or the age group between fifteen and forty-four.

The promotion will continue to seek places where faces material are at the disposal of interested stakeholders. We will still continue to find partners or other stakeholders that are willing to come in and join in the fight and be able to sponsor more billboards, more banners. We wanted to go as far across the nation as we can.

HIV and Aids eradication begins with each and every one of us. Remember that absolutely nobody has the truth written to their face. Protect yourself and sexually active people, use a condom.”

The Red Cross’ hope now is that this simple message will be carried forward in the new initiative which is meant to provoke and not to preach.

The program will have as poster personalities: Supa G, Edith Tesecum, Orson Picart and Stephanie Young. Billboards will be strategically placed across Belize City and San Pedro.
 
Ch 5:

CitCo HIV campaign to target mentally ill

The war against HIV is being fought on many fronts and today an unlikely source joined local efforts: the Belize City Council. According to Field Officer Troy Banner, the target of their HIV initiative will be persons with mental illnesses.

Troy Banner, Field Officer, CitCo HIV/AIDS Initiative
“You know from time to time people will meet you on the street and say, “Mr. Please fi wah lee dollar, I have HIV.” Now what we will do? We will refer that patient to the V.C.T. centre, see if that patient is on any kind of anti-retroviral medication, and see if that patient has been tested. And then later on go on to the family, see how we can counsel them, involve them with that client and see what role they can play within that client’s life.”

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
“Why do this?”

Troy Banner
“Well it’s a very, very great endeavour. First of all, HIV is not only for those who are infected now it’s for all of us. We are all at risk and it’s a disease for all of us. We have to look out for each other.”

Banner says part of the programme will include asking businesses for food items to help the patients with their nutritional needs. For more information on the initiative, you can contact Banner at the City Council, telephone number 227-2117.
 
HIV workshop teaches health care for bedridden patients

Ch 5:

HIV workshop teaches health care for bedridden patients

On Tuesday the National AIDS Policy and Strategic plan was officially launched, on Wednesday the Belize Red Cross introduced its HIV prevention campaign "Faces" ... and tonight we feature the wrap up of a workshop designed to teach health workers how to care for infected persons. No it's not AIDS awareness week but as workshop facilitator Nurse Minerva Jolly maintains, there's no such thing as giving too much attention to the deadly disease. For the past week, Jolly has been preparing ten participants for the rigours of caring for bed stricken patients.

Nurse Minerva Jolly, Trainer
“The lessons included giving somebody a bath, and we did bathe one of the participants, how to wash your hands, how to put on your gloves, how to put out contaminated needles, how to dispose of contaminated garbage, how to be compassionate, how to be respectful, how to be private and confidential. We learn about the services that we have in the community and there are lots and lots of services available, but they are not going to be used unless people really know.”

“We’re hoping to get somebody from each church to learn these skills so that there will be many little focuses around the city where somebody can go and ask for help. And somebody there will be able to say, look let me show you I have these skills and I think we accomplished that.”

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
“How many of these types of training have you all done?”

Nurse Minerva Jolly
“We’ve done them throughout the country, about five of six throughout the country. I also went out for the ministry of health and we train all the community nurses aides in Belize, about two hundred and thirty-five of them in each district we had a group and we went through these skills.”

The workshop was funded by the Belize Council of Churches and organized by the Cornerstone Foundation. In the first quarter of 2006, there were a hundred and thirty-five new HIV infections reported in Belize.
 
Ch 5:

Latest HIV/AIDS statistics show increased infection

It may have taken them a while, but The Ministry of Health has finally released the first quarter report on HIV/AIDS for 2006. According to the statistics, there were one hundred and thirty-one new reported HIV infections, fifteen new AIDS cases, and fourteen AIDS-related deaths. The numbers show an increase compared to the first quarter of 2005, which placed new infections at ninety-nine and new AIDS cases at eight. AIDS-related deaths showed a slight dip with January through March 2005 showing sixteen, two more than this quarter in 2006. In terms of the male to female ratio, the stats show an almost one to one ratio with men accounting for sixty-seven of the new infections and women sixty-four. For men, the age group most affected in the first quarter are those twenty-five to thirty-four and forty to forty-four, while for women its those between fifteen and twenty-nine years old. HIV stakeholders maintain that Belize is currently experiencing a plateau in the epidemic and in another couple of year the country should start seeing a decline. Last year the National AIDS Programme reported four hundred and thirty-four new HIV infections, a reduction from 2004's four hundred and fifty-seven.
 
Love FM:

BELIZE JOINS IN CELEBRATION OF WORLD FIRST AID DAY

September 09, 2006

Saturday will be celebrated as World First Aid day. Love news spoke with the Belize Red Cross First Aid Project Coordinator, Stephanie Young.


STEPHANIE YOUNG, PROJECT COORDINATOR

“Tomorrow across the world a lot of societies, a lot of Red Cross and Red Crescents societies will be celebrating this World First Aid day just not in Belize and we’re expecting more than 100 will participate this year in the world first aide day and they will organize their events ceremonies and the whole idea of that is to raise public awareness to have communities understanding the positives effect of having first aide in our daily lives. And that’s we encourage people, our Belizean people to learn first aide so that they can respond to any emergencies as they may arise.”


Young said the Belize Red Cross will be involved in a number of activities tomorrow.


STEPHANIE YOUNG, PROJECT COORDINATOR

“Under the theme Red Cross, Red Crescents First Aide Volunteers Saving Lives Without Discrimination that is the theme for World First Aide Day which is celebrated every second Saturday in September, so its going to be celebrated September 9th, which is tomorrow and this is just an opportunity to highlight way in which first aide can over come, for example national, racial and political divides. And so one of the things that Belize Red Cross has been doing that compliments this work with our volunteers is to take first aide into the communities and into the school. And we’ve had a lot of training in the Orange Walk district and Cayo district where by our volunteers taught community members first Aide skills. In schools we did a lot of education sessions. And so that was one of the ways we were trying to incorporate the whole theme. And having everybody, you know the entire Belizean public learns fist aid. What we will be also doing for tomorrow which marks the day, September 9th, we’re going to be participating in the carnival. Together We Can is also a part of the Red Cross is going to be having a float and we’re going to be a part of that float, we’re going to be distributing a lot of giveaways, things that showcase the work of the Red Cross volunteers. One of the themes we are using is “Don’t be a Bystander, Be Someone, Learn First Aid.” As our t-shirts would say be somebody learn first aide. We have a lot of giveaways we will be giving to the public.”


Stephanie Young Belize Red Cross First Aid Project Coordinator.
 
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